Odland: Why the Hitmen should retire Sylvester’s No. 16

Kristen Odland, Calgary Herald05.01.2013

Calgary Hitmen captain Cody Sylvester packs up his equipment during the team’s garbage bag day at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday. The Hitmen were eliminated from the playoffs the night before in game 7 of their Eastern Conference final series against the Edmonton Oil Kings.

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Like a minor hockey player refusing to remove his equipment after a game, Cody Sylvester stood in full gear and faced the media following Tuesday’s abrupt exit from the Western Hockey League playoffs.

His Calgary Hitmen jersey, he admitted less than 24 hours later, was the toughest thing to take off.

“Yeah, I think I was the last one,” said the two-year outgoing team captain on Wednesday, finally in street clothes with his two-month playoff beard shaved off. “Being a five-year guy. It’s always tough to take off that jersey, knowing you’re not going to be putting it on again.

“But I’ve had so much fun in Calgary. I wouldn’t change that for the world.”

Always a putting on a calm and collected face for the media, his stiff upper lip has quivered slightly these past few days.

Once a shy kid sitting in general manager Kelly Kisio’s office, Calgary’s 168th overall pick in the 2007 bantam draft, Sylvester evolved into one of the most memorable players the franchise and the city has ever seen.

Five seasons. Three hundred and fifteen regular season games. Fifty-four playoff games including these last 17. Sylvester poured his heart and soul into each of them.

Good ones. Bad ones. Injuries. He’s been through it all.

A playoff run as a 16-year-old in 2009. A WHL championship and Memorial Cup trip in 2010. An awful, dead-last campaign in 2011 (which, for the record, saw him emerge from the dressing room each night and face the media with his head held high). And, now, these past two campaigns as captain.

So, it’s easy to see why he fought back tears outside Calgary’s dressing room following Tuesday’s 2-0 Game 7 loss at Rexall Place as he talked about playing the game he loves.

A game the Hitmen allowed him to play every day for five years.

“Coming to the rink was the highlight of my career,” had said Sylvester who finishes with 97 regular season goals and 132 assists, along with 29 playoff points, including 12 (four goals and eight assists) from this recent run. “Every day. Coming to the rink and being with the guys every year and the coaching staff was amazing. I’d wake up and look forward to coming to the rink. It was fun. If I had to pinpoint one, the (2010 WHL) championship would definitely be up there. The charity was a big thing for me, too.

“But I enjoyed every minute of my five years in Calgary, for sure.”

The best times of his life, really.

So, if parting with the jersey was so hard for No. 16, that should be reason enough there to keep it as his — for good.

Only one player in the franchise’s 18 seasons in the WHL has seen their number retired to the Scotiabank Saddledome’s rafters: Brad Moran’s No. 20, a guy whose name is painted all over the Calgary Hitmen wall of fame next to their dressing room.

Some may argue timing is too soon (their 2012-13 WHL season ended only Tuesday while Sylvester, a Kelowna native, is still saying his goodbyes this week).

Some may argue there are other names and past captains that deserve consideration (two-time most sportsmanlike player Matt Kinch, WHL and CHL defenceman of the year Karl Alzner, Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf are among the names).

And, sure, like the Forever a Flame/Roughneck traditions, there is a process done by the team’s ownership group to recognize those special ones.

But Sylvester’s name deserves to be discussed.

“I think a lot of people feel that way, with the character he has,” said Hitmen defenceman Peter Kosterman, who joined the squad in 2009-10, a year after Sylvester. “I don’t know what the organization’s stand on retiring numbers is. Sometimes it can be difficult, if you retire a ton of numbers eventually you’re not going to have any numbers left . . . but the fact that’s it’s a shared sentiment among us players and outside the dressing room, it’s a huge compliment and testimony to the truth of how exceptional Cody has been for this city. This WHL team. His (charity) this year. Being witness to the work he puts on the ice, off the ice, the leadership in the room, working with the younger guys. He brought it all. That’s a very high compliment . . . we all feel that way.

“Obviously if the organization has a policy on retiring numbers, that makes sense too. But he’s definitely been a great captain . . . he’s been right up there for the best of them.”

At the beginning of the season, he founded his own organization — Chance To Play — and raised $17,312 to help support local minor hockey.

He designed and sold T-shirts and volunteered like crazy, developing corporate partnerships and working with the Hitmen organization to increase awareness. This on top of other team community commitments.

So, on Wednesday when he beat out Mitch Topping of the Tri-City Americans for the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial trophy at the WHL awards luncheon, it was no shocker.

“The little kids, they look up to you as role models,” said Sylvester who accepted the honour on the heels of Hitmen alumnus Chris Nielsen (1999-00). “I was in their shoes at one point in Kelowna. I always remembered the Kelowna Rockets coming to our school and playing floor hockey. It’s an exciting day when guys like that come to your school and interact with you. The more I can go out to the community, go to school visits, pond-hockey, or hospital visits, it’s a great thing to do.

“For myself and for the kids.”

While Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson said he hadn’t spoke with the team about retiring Sylvester’s sweater, he did speak to Sylvester’s character — and how difficult it is to see him leave.

“For the four years I’ve been here, Cody has been an incredible leader for us,” he said. “On and off the ice. Great for our younger players. A leader for our older guys. I just wish him the best . . . but that’s part of the evolution. We’re going to miss him, he’s done a lot for us.

“But it’s time for him to go on and try and make the next step.”

And the next step, for the team and organization he’s leaving behind, should be fairly obvious.

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